September 2016

September 28, 2016

TROY, Ohio — After finding out his teenage sister had been killed in a car accident over the weekend, Mark Ross said he wanted to be with his mother as soon as he could.

Ross was in Indiana. His mom is in Detroit. Ross didn't have a car, but a friend who did agreed to drive him to Detroit. They got pulled over for speeding in Ohio, and it turned out that the driver not only had a suspended license but an outstanding warrant as well. He was taken into custody and the car was towed, leaving Ross stranded. Then Ohio Patrol Sergeant David Robinson arrived. Upon hearing the grieving Ross's story, the Sergeant drove him the remaining 100 miles to his mother's home.

At 3am I got a phone call stating that my sister had been killed in a car accident due to some young dumb punk! I haven't slept and instantly got on the road. Of course we were speeding, trying to get back to Detroit. And we got pulled over in Ohio. I knew I was going to Jail due to a petty warrant. The police called Wayne county and they refused to come get me because of the distance. I explained to the officer that my sister had died and that I needed to get to my mother asap. I broke down crying and he saw the sincerity in my cry. He REACHES OVER AND BEGAN PRAYING OVER ME AND MY FAMILY. He offered to bring me 100 miles further to Detroit because they towed the vehicle. Everybody knows how much I dislike Cops but I am truly Greatful for this Guy. He gave me hope

September 27, 2016

A black moon is invisible, as the sunlit side of the moon faces away from the Earth, so the side we see is entirely in shadow. It happens about every 32 months, but some folks are convinced that this one portends the beginning of the End of Times and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The first thing that comes to mind is "This stuff again?" There's always something: man-made global warming, man-made global cooling, rising seas, receding seas, comets, asteroids, and if all of that doesn't scare you to death, let's throw in another round of Second Coming hysteria.

But then, we were faced with last night's residential debate:

England's Express newspaper said that Friday's Black Moon could "bring with it worldwide destruction and the second coming of Jesus Christ."

Whatever. Bring it on. No need to paint the trim on the house then, eh?

Dwane Ehmer, of Irrigon Oregon, a supporter of the group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, rides his horse "Hellboy" at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, near Burns, Oregon.

Prosecutors also introduced a rifle that was found in the back of a horse trailer that belonged to Duane Ehmer, a fellow occupier currently awaiting trial. FBI agents testified that they found a maroon pouch underneath the seat in his truck that contained several items which belonged to the refuge, including gas cards, MasterCards and an employee’s ID.

Finally, defendant Shawna Cox announced in court that she has filed a civil suit in Harney County. Brown told her that will likely be irrelevant in the present criminal case. Cox also asked Brown to strike certain court filings from the record. Brown refused to do so.

Outside the courtroom, Cox told OPB that the civil case she filed in Harney County concerns the ownership of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. That’s an issue that Brown has repeatedly ruled is not up for discussion in this criminal case.

In total, the FBI found 22 rifles and 12 handguns at the refuge, buttressing their case that guns were involved in preventing federal employees from doing their jobs, which is central to the conspiracy charges against the seven defendants currently at trial. "Defense" is likely to begin presenting their side tomorrow.

In related news, Neanderthals had smaller brains than most contemporary humans, but apart from that, they seem to have shared many similarities: they built homes, made jewelry, painted on walls, and communicated vocally in much the same fashion as current humans.

They were also inbred, which is to say that they were far less genetically diverse than current humans, which may have contributed to their extinction around 39,000 years ago. There is evidence, however, of occasional matings with humans, as today most humans carry in their genetic makeup roughly 2% of Neanderthal genes - although in Eurasia, it's closer to 3%. In fact, human remains uncovered in Romania and dated to about 40,000 years ago were recently found to contain 6% Neanderthal DNA.

Oase 1, a modern human mandible, was found in 2002 in the Peştera cu Oase, Romania.

The relationship between these findings and the lineage of the Refuge occupiers has yet to be definitively established.

There has been a change in perception of Neanderthals in recent years as archaeologists have uncovered evidence that has suggested the extinct species of human was far more capable than has been conventionally believed. They built primitive homes, for example, created jewelry and painted on walls, and now, it appears they had an ear structure that would have enabled them to use vocal communications similar to modern humans.

There has been a change in perception of Neanderthals in recent years as archaeologists have uncovered evidence that has suggested the extinct species of human was far more capable than has been conventionally believed. They built primitive homes, for example, created jewelry and painted on walls, and now, it appears they had an ear structure that would have enabled them to use vocal communications similar to modern humans.

Al Sharpton's daughter tripped on a sidewalk in Soho and filed a $5 million lawsuit against New York City. She claims she sprained her ankle when walking on an uneven sidewalk, causing her permanent pain and mental anguish. She also claims that she can no longer go skiing or run marathons, although upon questioning, she was forced to admit that she doesn't do either of those things, and further admitted to dancing in high heels following the alleged sprain. She was even able to go mountain climbing at Red Rock Canyon, as she admitted after photos she posted to social media were produced.

As for the marathons that she doesn't do, she offered this explanation:

'But if I, you know, if I needed to do it and exercising or something like that, I was capable of it. Now, I can't.'

Pizza-electric! That's the ticket! Greener living through gastronomy! Oh wait...it seems I misread:

The California Energy Commission is spending $2 million to study whether or not piezoelectric crystals embedded in in freeways can be used to generate power as cars and trucks drive down the roads.

Get real. Yes, the nutters there hope to have 50% of their power coming from "renewables" in the next 14 years (much of which is generated out-of-state from sources such as the aerial Cuisinart farms in eastern Oregon), and yes, piezoelectric crystals produce energy when compressed, but it's still a stupid waste of cash. Roads need maintenance and repairs, which means we already know that the idea won't work.

But hey - gotta go green&sustainable regardless of cost.

The California Energy Commission is investing $2 million to study whether piezoelectric crystals can be used to produce electricity from the mechanical energy created by vehicles driving on roads.

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian customs officials are used to finding unusual items in travelers' luggage. But human intestines were not on their list — until now.

Yeah, that'll sort of garner some extended attention. Not that the traveler was planning on opening up a sausage business or anything; the Moroccan woman who'd packed them up explained that the intestines were those of her late husband, whom she believed had been poisoned, and so she brought them to Austria to have them examined.

A 21 year-old University of Arkansas student was driving through Branson, Missouri to visit family at around 9:30 p.m. when a pair of alert Sheriffs deputies observed that one of the brake lights was out, and pulled him over. Upon approaching the vehicle, they detected a strong odor of marijuana. Further inquiry yielded the determination that the young man had, in the cup-holder of the vehicle, an avocado.

As he had "fashioned the avocado into a pot pipe", the fruit was taken into custody, together with a small quantity of marijuana.

September 26, 2016

An Oklahoma deputy was driving to work in his patrol car the other afternoon when he noticed a guy running down the street, screaming. That might have had something to do with the fact that a pair of pit bulls were chasing him, in full attack mode. So the deputy dropped his car into park, collared the guy and dumped him onto the hood of the patrol car, then joined him up there as the dogs arrived.

He kept them occupied by whacking the bump-bar with his baton until animal control arrived. It was close to 3 p.m., so the nearby school was about to let out. The deputy figured it wasn't the time or place to shoot, so he just kept them busy and focused on him. Smart move.

Black Lives Matter.

It's been mentioned here before, but bears repeating: bull dog/terrier mixes known as pit bulls have no place in an urban environment

Bad enough that Rukaiyah Adams, the normally polished investment professional who is vice chair of the Oregon Investment Council, broke down in tears last week as she spoke of passing a record $22 billion in unfunded promises to future taxpayers.

“My call to the Legislature and to the governor is for leadership on this, and I mean right now,” Adams said during last Wednesday’s joint meeting of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System board and the citizen panel that oversees its investments. “This is becoming a moral issue. We can’t just talk about numbers anymore.”

It's not as though it's a big surprise; some of us have been warning about this for two decades - but Democratics have been running this state for over three decades. And not only are many from back east, they also don't care.

A handful of lawmakers are set to meet Wednesday in hopes of jumpstarting a conversation on pension reforms in the 2017 legislative session. They have a list of ideas already vetted by state lawyers. They say the ideas could help plug an $885 million budget hit looming over the next two years, fallout after the Oregon Supreme Court rejected most of a package of pension reforms negotiated in 2013.

But Democratic leaders, including Gov. Kate Brown, so far say they’re not interested. In an interview this week, Brown said she saw pension costs as a very important issue, but “from my perspective, that list is not legally viable and not likely to result in significant financial savings.”

It’s a similar story from Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, and House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland. They insist there are no more money-saving moves that could be both legally viable and economically significant.

They can insist all they want. The reason why they don't care is because they've been career politicians since they moved into the Willamette Valley from back east. Courtney's from Philadelphia. Kotek's from Connecticut. Brown's from Minnesota. They're all in PERS, and they see no personal benefit to be derived from changing anything.

The next time you’re having a frustrating experience with a bottle return machine, there is one key fact to keep in mind to help explain the situation: For every container you fail to return, the organization that provides the vast majority of the return machines gets to keep your deposit nickel. With the deposit amount increasing to 10 cents next April it’s time to re-examine the system.

When fewer containers are returned, the recycling system operator, the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) gets more money, not less. The monetary incentive is for the machines not to work.

Sure, it's only a nickel (for now - it goes up to ten cents per container next year), but last year, OBRC took in $20 million in nickels. As for the redeemed containers, OBRC sells them for scrap, so they get even more money. And better yet (for them): they're a private organization. The way the law works in Oregon is thus: if redemption rate (not recycling, just redemption) falls below 80% for two years, the container deposit doubles. That's why next year the deposits per container will double.

Since roadside recycling is now mandatory, if the redemption machines aren't working, many people just say "screw it" and stuff their containers into their home recycling bins. This effectively doubles the incentives for OBRC, and it's less hassle for the store employees as well. It just eventually raises your costs; everyone wins except you.

Other states have adopted a different approach: revenues from unredeemed containers go into a state fund - not to beverage distributors like OBRC. They can still sell the scrap, but they don't get those millions of dollars in nickels. It might be a good idea for Oregon to make a few changes in their approach.